Vice-Chancellor fails to deliver suspicious US$120 million UDAP agreement in Nepal; criticized for irregularities within the University

ByLaxman Datt Pant

Vice-Chancellor fails to deliver suspicious US$120 million UDAP agreement in Nepal; criticized for irregularities within the University

The Vice-Chancellor (VC) of Kathmandu University (KU) in Nepal has failed to deliver a US$120 million University Development Assistance Project (UDAP) Agreement that was signed on December 25, 2019, between the University and the Bridgin Foundation in Belgium.

The agreement signed by Ram Kantha Makaju, VC of KU, and Tanko Mouhamadou, President of the Bridgin Foundation, and witnessed by KP Sharma Oli, the Prime Minister of Nepal, was intended to help to provide efficient human resources by constructing development infrastructures in various sectors to ensure community access to education. Unfortunately, the University has not received a single penny even though it is a year since the contract was signed.

The decision of the VC to sign such an agreement that has resulted in nothing being received by the University is now being highly criticized by both academics and university stakeholders. The Foundation, registered in Belgium and led by Tanko Mouhamadou, supplies no details or reliable information about the organization. Citing security reasons, its website states that this is intentionally left without detailed content.

Although the Ministry of Finance and the University Grants Commission of Nepal advised the University not to sign the agreement with the Bridgin Foundation after questions were raised about the credibility of the institution, VC Makaju accepted the agreement, misleading the Prime Minister whose approval had not been gained. The Prime Minister of Nepal serves as the Chancellor of Kathmandu University.

Furthermore, VC Makaju, who is in the running for the same post for the third time, has been found to be engaged in irregularities, nepotism, and the misuse of resources within the University. He was first appointed as the VC in 2012 and subsequently reappointed in January 2017 with this tenure coming to an end on January 21.

  • An investigation carried out last year reported that Makaju had misused University funds. The three-member committee set up by the University’s Executive Council under Professor Shambhu Prasad Khanal’s leadership to investigate economic mismanagement and policy deviations at KU concluded that the VC was involved in financial irregularities.
  • Subsequently, the Prime Minister, KP Sharma Oli, instructed another investigative committee led by Usha Jha, a Member of the National Planning Commission, to study the report and draw recommendations. The committee also ruled that there had been irregularities.
  • US$116,208 received for the granting of affiliation to medical colleges was claimed to have been spent on the operation and expansion of Dhulikhel Hospital but the bill for this remains unpaid. Makaju is one of the directors of the hospital.
  • Makaju granted university affiliation to Birat Medical College in Province 1 and Devdaha Medical College of Lumbini province who were subsequently permitted to conduct MBBS courses as extended programs of Kathmandu Medical College.
  • The Medical Education Probe Commission (2017) chaired by Gauri Bahadur Karki, recommended that the government caution Makaju for granting permission to run extended programs at medical colleges that failed to meet the accepted criteria.
  • Furthermore, the Education and Health Committee of the House of Representatives has recommended action be taken against VC Makaju for defending private medical colleges that charged more than the prescribed fees.

Makaju was plunged into controversy during his first term in office for illegitimately granting affiliation to run medical colleges whereas during his second term he has been accused of embezzling university funds. During both tenures, when professors and staff became disturbed about his disrepute, the University’s teaching activities were postponed for months.

Similarly, after expressing dissatisfaction with his working style and monopoly, some professors left the University. Bhola Thapa, the registrar, and Bipin Adhikari, Dean at the School of Law, who quit in 2018 and 2019 respectively being among them. In 2019, Makaju appointed an assistant professor at the Department of Languages and Mass Communication on the basis of fraudulent documents furnished by Sagar Sharma, the Dean of School of Arts at the University. This case is pending at the Supreme Court of Nepal.

Expressing complete dissatisfaction over the VC’s monopolistic activities, Professor Bibhuti Ranjan Jha, the former President of Kathmandu University Professors’ Association, said, “The University’s image has been tarnished during two consecutive tenures of Makaju, hence he should not be appointed as the next VC. The University image has been ruined with nepotism and favoritism, misuse of the funds and resources.” Adding that VC Makaju served the interests of medical mafias, Jha commented, “The Board of Trustee and Senate of the University are equally responsible for these distortions and irregularities.”

Meanwhile, Professor Govind KC, an orthopedic surgeon, and humanitarian activist has warned the government not to reappoint certain officials of KU. “We would like to draw the attention of the government to appoint officials on the basis of seniority and efficiency and not to reappoint corrupt and controversial officials of Kathmandu University until the new law is enacted as per the agreement,” he added.

An autonomous and not-for-profit public institution established by an Act of Parliament in December 1991, KU offers more than 140 academic programs and courses. Its major international donors include the Norwegian Himal Asia Mission, the United Mission to Nepal, the Norwegian Development Agency, SINTEF, Norway, the Royal Danish Embassy, the Nepal Swiss Development Cooperation, the Indian Embassy in Nepal, the Happy House Foundation, Switzerland, and the Yamaji Fumiko Culture Foundation, Japan.